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Monday, June 2, 1997 In Nunavut the silence is deafening
For the last few months the gender-parity plebiscite has eclipsed Nunavut's political landscape, and even the federal election campaign.
Perhaps the most telling statistic of last week's vote is the fact that only 39 per cent of eligible voters exercised their right to an opinion on consequence. In a debate that could have set a precedent in democratic affairs, little more than one third of the voters bothered to express an opinion -- for or against.
The most obvious conclusion is that the issue was of little interest to the people of Nunavut. Put aside the protest that the campaign was too short or that the referendum was ill-timed. After all, this vote was agreed upon at the Nunavut Leaders Summit last February. If there was a problem with the scheduling of the vote, it could have been settled then.
The "Yes" side was well-financed and backed by some of Nunavut's heaviest political hitters, such as John Amagoalik of the Nunavut Implementation Committee and Pauktuutit president Martha Flaherty. Aivilik MLA Manitok Thompson, meanwhile, fronted the "No" side. If these people couldn't raise the interest of the voters, nobody could.
We also suspect that even those who were interested found the true nature of gender equality in society obscured in clouds of political hot air that dominated the debate.
The creation of Nunavut is an exciting, daring adventure. The idea of gender parity was a well-intentioned attempt to fashion a more open, inclusive government. It would have been a first in the history of legislative government.
By not showing up to vote, the people of Nunavut must have had other things on their minds -- they expressed their level of interest in gender parity as surely as if they had given it their overwhelming blessing.
Be that as it may, we believe innovative and creativity can still play a role as Nunavut's movers and shakers get back to the business of building a territory.
Peary, Cook, Weber, Malakov ... the list of North Pole firsts (or near-firsts) has long been a male domain. But no longer.
The latest group of hardy adventurers to tackle the 750-nautical-mile trek to the top of the planet are women. Led by Iqaluit's Matty McNair and her assistant Denise Martin, the all-female team reached 90 degrees North latitude last week, powered only by their legs.
We admire their courage, stamina and fortitude. But the old Pole is getting to be a well-visited site, what with a Japanese expedition reportedly reaching it just a few days before the women. Maybe we should start charging admission
Graduation stories are generally uplifting but last week's feature on Arctic Bay's Rex Willie and Julie Olayuk and Norman Wells' Mark Cherkowski were particularly inspirational.
The trio are their communities' first Grade 12 graduates. We can take heart that in the North young people can and are achieving the same academic goals as their southern counterparts. Even better, our young people are finally being educated in their own backyards, not in some regional high school hundreds of kilometres from home.
Congratulations graduates, for achieving, perhaps the first in a long line of academic successes.
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